help identifying problems with tomatos and their leaves

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Yes, I mix 2 oz of Hasta Grow in a 2 gallon watering can and I water 5 plants. I have done this since transplanting them. The following pictures show 5 tomato plants in each group except for the one's in the center where there are 4 plants.

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Chuck, I believe I could find parallels between your constantly improving choice of fertilizers and any number of cutting edge artists that push boundaries. I thought it was funny to consider your fertilizer knowledge and Andy Warhol in one sentence. That looks like a fertilizer that fits my needs too. Thanks for sharing!
 
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Chuck, I believe I could find parallels between your constantly improving choice of fertilizers and any number of cutting edge artists that push boundaries. I thought it was funny to consider your fertilizer knowledge and Andy Warhol in one sentence. That looks like a fertilizer that fits my needs too. Thanks for sharing!
Fertilizer isn't a magic potion. There are other things a plant needs and I put them in that 2 gallon watering can whether they need it or not. In your case in your heavy clay soils I would also add @1 oz per gallon of water, liquid humus and molasses.
 
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Fertilizer isn't a magic potion. There are other things a plant needs and I put them in that 2 gallon watering can whether they need it or not. In your case in your heavy clay soils I would also add @1 oz per gallon of water, liquid humus and molasses.
Funny you should say that as I have been spraying humus this year. It has made a good impact. I have learned there is a timing issue on sugars though, as our heat rises, in the realm of enhancing fungal pressure waves rather than letting the crests go by and then spraying or putting out dry.
 
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Funny you should say that as I have been spraying humus this year. It has made a good impact. I have learned there is a timing issue on sugars though, as our heat rises, in the realm of enhancing fungal pressure waves rather than letting the crests go by and then spraying or putting out dry.
I find that spraying humus doesn't do much about nutrition. In fact, I don't spray nutritionally at all. If you spray foliage it helps the foliage, but does nothing for the roots and roots are the heart and soul of a plants health. It is great for preventing fungal problems though. Incorporating humus into the food chain via soil microbes, I find, has a much greater impact. I have found molasses to be of great benefit either sprayed or used as a drench during periods of any weather as it feeds beneficial fungi and fungi seem to prefer hot humid weather. I don't use the dry. Mainly, for fungal problems, if they arise, I am convinced that cornmeal tea sprayed is of the greatest benefit. Whenever I spray anything, either Bt or Spinosad, I always add molasses and cornmeal tea to the mix.
 
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per plant? and this is 1oz per galleon right?
I should elaborate more on this subject. As I stated before, I have been using 1 oz of fertilizer per gallon of water since transplanting. However, I think this will change in the next week. My tomatoes are ripening now but what is of greater importance is the weather is forecasted to be basically the same for the next two weeks. I must observe closely what my plants are doing. Are they producing as many buds and blooms as before ripening began? Probably not as the plants are much bigger now than they were at fruit set. It was easy to see what was happening with the buds and blooms then, but now with many many shoots able to produce blooms it is difficult to have an accurate reading. Therefore, if I see very many shoots starting to produce inferior buds, I will start using 2 oz of fertilizer per gallon of water and watering it in immediately until the nighttime low temperatures are not conducive to fruit set.
 
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I find that spraying humus doesn't do much about nutrition. In fact, I don't spray nutritionally at all. If you spray foliage it helps the foliage, but does nothing for the roots and roots are the heart and soul of a plants health. It is great for preventing fungal problems though. Incorporating humus into the food chain via soil microbes, I find, has a much greater impact. I have found molasses to be of great benefit either sprayed or used as a drench during periods of any weather as it feeds beneficial fungi and fungi seem to prefer hot humid weather. I don't use the dry. Mainly, for fungal problems, if they arise, I am convinced that cornmeal tea sprayed is of the greatest benefit. Whenever I spray anything, either Bt or Spinosad, I always add molasses and cornmeal tea to the mix.
I was interested to learn that of all the things in a kitchen cupboard, of all the old wives tales, that sugar has a molecular makeup of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the other three quoted main fertilizers. I am also aware that carbon is not a fertilizer as it exists, rather a catalyst, holding oxygen and nutrients that benefit roots. Other biometrics ride these essential major nutrients, though I would question that description of a nutrient when the plant does not benefit through direct consumption of that element.
 
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I was interested to learn that of all the things in a kitchen cupboard, of all the old wives tales, that sugar has a molecular makeup of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the other three quoted main fertilizers. I am also aware that carbon is not a fertilizer as it exists, rather a catalyst, holding oxygen and nutrients that benefit roots. Other biometric ride these essential major nutrients, though I would question that description of a nutrient when the plant does not benefit through direct consumption of that element.
AFAIK the only nutrition that benefits the plant DIRECTLY are synthetics. All of the rest benefit the soil microbes first and then these lowly soil microbes break down the nutritional matter into a form the plants can uptake. Thats why feeding the soil is so important. As far as foliar feeding goes there is nothing wrong with it, only do NOT make it the sole source of nutrients. Also, I don't think macro-nutrients are as available as micro-nutrients during foliar feeding if at all. Personally, I have never seen the reasoning behind foliar feeding of vegetables. It is just so much easier to put the same stuff in a bucket and pour it on the ground than it is to go to all the hassel of spraying. For micro nutrients, if the plant is lacking, yes I can see it although soil drenches work as good or better as spraying. And then there is the temperature when spraying. To warm, plants can burn. Too late in the day and the leaves close up. Just my opinion of course.
 
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I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what works for me.
It seems, to me, that you water a LOT. (?)
I find my tomatoes do just fine if they get dry for a day or so.
When I see yellow leaves on my tomatoes & peppers, it means they're not uptaking nutrients.
I mix 2 TBsp of Epsom salt in a gallon of water (stir to dissolve) and water the plants. A gallon would do maybe 8 plants for me.
Epsom Salt is magnesium sulfate & THAT helps the uptake of nutrients. I normally see a darker green to my leaves in 1-3 days.
Everyone has opinions & like I said I'm no expert. I just know what works for me.
 
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I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what works for me.
It seems, to me, that you water a LOT. (?)
I find my tomatoes do just fine if they get dry for a day or so.
When I see yellow leaves on my tomatoes & peppers, it means they're not uptaking nutrients.
I mix 2 TBsp of Epsom salt in a gallon of water (stir to dissolve) and water the plants. A gallon would do maybe 8 plants for me.
Epsom Salt is magnesium sulfate & THAT helps the uptake of nutrients. I normally see a darker green to my leaves in 1-3 days.
Everyone has opinions & like I said I'm no expert. I just know what works for me.
No, I don't water much at all. If no rain probably every 7-10 days, it depends on the temps and wind. Once they start blooming I like to slightly stress them, have them slightly wilted in the AM and then saturate them. I never have yellow leaves except what occurs with early blight. I can control early blight until harvest is over but have not found a way to completely eliminate it. I too use epsom salts but only at planting and maybe twice during the season for elimination of blossom end rot. The only thing I do different than most gardeners is I probably over fertilize. I start with a dry pelleted fertilizer worked into the soil at planting and while the plants are still small I fertilize with Hasta Grow at every watering. This seems to build up nutrients in the soil. Then once or twice during the season I will scatter a couple of handfuls of the dry around on the surface under the plants. When the plants start to set fruit I only fertilize about every two weeks with Hasta Grow or maybe with a fish emulsion. Every time I do anything with the plants, whether it be fertilizing or spraying Bt for hornworms, I always without fail mix in molasses and cornmeal tea. I do this with all plants and not just tomatoes. This is what works for me in this crummy alkaline soil that I have.
 
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none of the yellowed limbs got any greener yet. I removed the worst of them, but i still have 2 limbs with yellow leaves. ill try adding some salt to see if that helps em, or ill have to remove those too. (no need to be salty guys, har har.)

plants seem to be taller though, and there not dead, so thats a plus. and everyone, in all the forums, said it did not look viral. so thats really what I cared about the most.

but thanks everyone for the help. I had ordered a soil test kit online too. but if stuff starts growing well, I may just save it till next year.

I dont even like tomatoes. just doin em for my mom XP. so naturally they have to be the hardest thing to grow that I planted lol. but thats how it goes.

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they are looking better. thanks for the tips!
i sprayed the leaves with an epsom salt water mix. it seemed to help
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Literally just got done putting some out myself. I think I understand more about using magnesium to fertilize less. That leads to less disease in the summer heat here. Plus, I have proven to my own satisfaction that the flavor is vastly improved. I think it may be the sulphate part, but literally had 20 celebrity plants that got ES and 20 did not and there was no contest. Well truthfully 20 got a regular fertilizer in grow bags and 20 got abandoned because of killer compost. So that was a really odd but interesting and hopefully never repeated situation.
 

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